the dramatic story of an infection

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Jesús Sánchez

holds a degree in biology from Barcelona’s Pompeu Fabra University and a doctorate in molecular biology from Madrid’s Autonomous University. He’s a strange fish — very strange. One of those guys you can never trust. He was born as a baby, something that surprised no one, except himself. Against the wishes of his parents, he had the brilliant idea of studying biology on account of the large amount of professional opportunities the field offered. He speaks perfect German — something that raises any amount of suspicions. He spent his infancy, childhood and youth in Barcelona, until they ran him out of town. With a sheaf of false documents, he came to Madrid, where he’s been living the low life ever since. He is a spy for the CIA, KGB and ZZPaff. During his free time he plays water polo (yes, he’s a weirdo!) and develops allergies to all types of domesticated animals (particularly dogs, cats and corn flea beetles). He draws well, although he sometimes loses the run of himself. He has a web page called (although God knows why) The Kruch (http://thekruch.com). He likes tuna in all its forms. He has a pet, an axolotl, which hasn’t moved for eight years. For his sins he has worked in Spain’s National Center for Biotechnology and its National Cancer Research Center, and at present may be seen scurrying down the corridors of its National Center for Cardiovascular Research.

Raquel Mejías

holds a degree in biochemistry and a doctorate in molecular biology from Madrid’s Autonomous University. Her beginnings are fairly standard (she was born, she grew up), but from a very young age her interest in science was patently obvious; for example, she once snuck into the kitchen, swiped a fish from under her mother’s nose and gutted it, with the aim in mind, to use her own words, “of seeing what it had inside”. Following the usual rebellious phase, during which she flirted with a number of careers outside of science, she came to her senses and returned to the scientific fold, from which she has yet to attempt escape. In her free time she draws the grisly but wholly hypothetical suicides of postgrad students and writes and rewrites her Nobel acceptance speech. Owing to these activities’ general uselessness and wastefulness, they perfectly complement her other hobby — dreaming up lymphocyte vs bacteria war stories. She also collects Calimero figurines. Given the excellent state of affairs of Spanish science, she currently occupies the role of an exiled scientist (we are not going to mention the term brain drain, because her drained brain still gets up to quite a lot, without leaving drips on the floor or anything!) at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN. Her fields are the synthesis and optimization of nanoparticles for the treatment of multiresistant bacterial infections, anti-tumor immunotherapy, nanoparticle-based drug delivery systems for increasing the efficacy and reducing the side effects of current anticancer treatments, and magnetic hyperthermia.

Ultan Cronin

Born several meters below sea level, Ultan lived the formative years of his life in a world bedeviled by estuarine fogs and Atlantic miasmas. Upon reaching adulthood, he moved away from his native town of Ennis in the west of Ireland to Madrid, where the vapors that cloud his vision are now of the petrochemical/nitrogenous variety. He has a loose association with the world of science (mainly to do with his acceptance of thirty pieces of silver at the end of every month), and on clear days he dabbles in writing and does the odd bit of translation. If this sketch of his tenebrous existence hasn’t put you off, you can see what he gets up to at http://ucronin.wordpress.com/.

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This comic has been checked and endorsed by the Spanish Immunology Society